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Abstract/Description

The chairman of a cardamom-growing group explains the advantages of selling to a food processor

Notes

Selling to the processing industry
Cue:
High value spice crops like vanilla and cardamom can be a tempting option for farmers wanting to earn more money. But growing these crops needs specialist knowledge and attention to detail, and farmers must be ready to invest in order to get their production started. One way to reduce the risk of failure is to have a contract with a buyer, such as a spice company, who can support in the production of the crop and be a guaranteed market.
Uganda Crop Industry, for example, is a food processing company which contracts farmer groups to grow cardamom, a popular spice in Asian cooking. Ronald Kafeero is the chairman of one of these groups, and he spoke recently to Wambi Michael about how they grow and sell the spice. Before visiting Ronald, however, Wambi first met with Abdul Majidu, an extension worker with the processing company. He asked Abdul how many farmers supply their cardamom.
IN: ?We have around 400 people ?
OUT: ? have got that good example.?
DUR?N: 4?08?
BACK ANNOUNCEMENT: Ronald Kafeero, who grows cardamom for the Uganda Crop Industry. The interview comes from a resource pack produced by CTA.
Transcript
Majidu We have around 400 people. The people were just very much in contact.
Michael They finally sell the product to you?
Majidu Indeed.
Michael Now let?s start our motorcycle, we go and see these guys who grow cardamom. We are now going to see some of the farmers who grow cardamom in part of this area.
SFX Motorcycle engine.
Michael We are now in Lugazi. We are meeting one of the farmers here in Lugazi Good afternoon sir.
Kafeero Good afternoon.
Michael How are you?
Kafeero I?m alright, how are you sir?
Michael Fine, how is here?
Kafeero We are ok here.
Michael Now we are talking about the growing of cardamom and I can see we are standing next to this crop. When did you begin growing cardamom?
Kafeero I began growing cardamom in 2004. We have a group which is called Kyosimbonanya. We were trained to grow cardamom so I became a model farmer here and I?m benefiting from cardamom.
Michael And how many are you in the group?
Kafeero We are 18 members.
Michael Ok, how do you market this cardamom after growing?
Kafeero After growing cardamom, after picking it from the garden, we take it straight to the Uganda Crop Industry and get our money just immediately.
Michael Immediately? Because in the past we used to have scenarios where you would grow coffee then they wait for years to get their money. So with cardamom you grow it immediately and get it?
Kafeero Yeah, and get the money.
Michael Ok. Tell us how you market this product?
Kafeero Ok. Us in our group we just gather our cardamom, all of us here, so that we send it and sell it as a group, in Uganda Crop Industry.
Michael How good is that?
Kafeero That one is better because it takes a short time, takes a little time. One person can go, a person who we trust can go there, and the rest remain working in their farms, so that we don?t waste time.
Michael Now how do you ensure the quality of cardamom that you send to Uganda Crop Industries?
Kafeero That one, we were trained by some of our instructors. The best quality of cardamom we know and we just collect it, when it is about green.
Michael Now let?s talk again about this group marketing element. How are the farmers who are growing cardamom benefiting from selling of cardamom?
Kafeero We were suffering when we were selling it, this coffee, because we were selling just individually. But now as a group, our people have benefited very much because we gather our crop at my home here and we take it there to Uganda Crop Industry.
Michael How do you share out what you have got in terms of sales?
Kafeero I have a weighing scale here. So every person who has brought his cardamom we have to know the exact kilos which we are just taking. So we gather it together, after getting the kilos of every individual, so that we send it there.
Michael And how good is this?
Kafeero That one is very good because it does not waste time and we are working together. So we are benefiting and we are advising the money which we get from there, we advise our farmers, do this one, do that one. Myself, I?m going to Kituza for more knowledge and I?ll be going to the other institute at Kampala there for more training because I have gathered enough money. Even some boda bodas, the boys are busy making money.
Michael You mean you bought motorcycles that you gave out to people?
Kafeero To people.
Michael Are you doing that also as a group, like a grouped people?
Kafeero Yes, we are doing it in Kyosimbonanya Farmers? Group, and already about ten of us we have boda bodas which are busy at the Lugazi town, who work there.
Michael In the past we had some farmers when they had the vanilla boom, people used to bring nails and whatever and they put in vanilla. So you as a group, how do you ensure quality of the cardamom?
Kafeero As we have learnt from our people with vanilla, they were spoiling their crop, whereby even there it had no market. So with us we ensure that we do something which is good so that it does not spoil our market, as it spoiled the market of those people with vanilla. We have got that good example. End of track